Our oldest son

It was 1977 when I married Nancy and took responsibility of raising her children Tony(7)and Tina(6). Tony was a challenge so we butted heads often. He had to do things his way and would not listen to reason most of the time. I thought, well, I was like that sometimes too. Tony loved sports, especially football and quickly fell in love with the Dallas Cowboys. His all time favorite was Emmett Smith. Tony wear the number 80 all through Pop Warner and high school football. He was a tough competitor playing offense and defense in many games. After high school, Tony tried to get on the Phoenix Fire Department, but no luck. He took a job at a small family owned production company and met his future wife Gail. They got married in our backyard in 1999. A few years later in 2004, they adopted and baby daughter and named her Nicole. All was well except Tony's beer drinking habit. We all warned him that excess would cause him a lot of problems, but Tony did not listen. Over the following years, his health started deteriorating. Tony passed away Sunday the 22nd at 11:02AM after fighting a hard battle that was staked against him. It is said, "Children are not suppose to die before their parents". I never realized how true that is. Our hearts are broke, but his humor and joking will live on in our memories forever. Tony loved to joke around with you. He made me laugh and proud of him for his love for his daughter and ever faithful wife. They made him a man, father and husband. Rest in peace son...I love you deeply... sleep now... you are in good company with Uncle John and Charlie. I'll be there later and we'll play catch.

The First Trip of 2015

Nancy and I both love whales. We have gone on "whale watching" cruises before. MAYBE we would see one whale about 2 miles away in an eight hour cruise. VERY disappointing! So when she showed me an ad about a whale watching trip, I was not really excited... but I was wrong. WOW! This was more than we could have ever imagined. On the Pacific side of Baja California there three bays/lagoons that gray whale swim down from Alaska each year to give birth to their calves or mate. They have been doing this for centuries. We would see two of the three bays which are halfway from the tip of Baja. The bays are shallow and warm waters. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of whales in the bays during this short time in the first months of the year, each year. But I am getting ahead of myself. Nancy and I drove to San Diego from Phoenix to join the tour. Our first day was in San Diego to the Scripps Institution and Aquarium in La Jolla and starting to get a feel of the Chicano community around San Diego.

The next day we crossed the border at Tijuana and began our adventure. We were 24 people (from all over the US and one from Canada) on a good sized bus with our female guide Luka, her female assistant Mimiam and our male driver Manual. Down Hwy 1 we went, stopping at several places to see plants, museums, eating, and stopping for potty breaks. Our hosts did a great job telling us about Baja California, the people, customs, foods, traditions and making sure there was NO lack of food.

OK, now I am rushing to get to the best part. After a couple days of traveling, and our butts flat from seating, we arrived at our hotel close to the bay. We were anixous and hoping we would not be disappointed. WELL, we were not! There we were ten miles out into the bays and whales all around us. They were SO gentle with an occasional bump of our 20 feet boats. They would stick their heads right up to us so we could scratch their nose, or as some did, lean over and give them a kiss. They were curious and most of the Moms would push their calves to us. Trusting Moms. We did this for three days, going from one bays to the other. We were all on a "Whale High". Looking into a whale's eye is an experience you can not explain. These monmouth animals could easily crush us, or at least toss our boat, but they were so gentle and curious of us small little humans, compared to a female whale bigger than a school bus. The couple days drive back to San Diego were anti-climatic, as we were all bragged about our encounters and became closer to each other. Our crew did a great job keeping occupied with different things, like movies about the region, food, songs,food, visiting a middle school, food and just joking. Did I mention FOOD. Just kidding. They were great. All in all, I am glad Nancy convinced me to go on this trip. I totally enjoyed the experience, the people, the region and the whales. NEXT? A couple RV trips, stay tuned.

Our Turkey trip

The country of Turkey, unlike what some of you may think, is a friendly, USA loving country. Turkey stands with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia/Middle East. The country has been connected to Islam, Judaism and Christianity since the beginning of time. But the country is 95% Muslim now. Our trip started in Istanbul which the new modern blended with the very old.The country was overrun by many armies through the centuries from Greeks to Romans and more. They all left there architecture and bits of culture there which still linger. After a few days, we traveled South along the coast to other cities and towns, getting a feel of the local people, foods and culture. Visiting a school and staying in a home with a great farming family. The trip also enclosed a four day and night cruise on a Gulet along the famed South Turquoise Coast of Turkey. It was gorgeous with its crystal blue waters and the numerous rocky coves for anchoring the night. Daytime was taken up with hiking up the hills to ruins and visiting nomadic families. The last couple days of our trip took us to some of the weirdest rock formations I had ever seen. Sandstone castles called Fairy Rocks. Century old people dug homes and whole cities into them for shelter and sometimes protection from raiding troops. Except for the flight back to Istanbul, our trip ended there. It was a eye-opening trip to the culture and misgivings we in the US believe about the TURKS. It just proved to me, all Muslims are not what we see on the TV. Those are radicals and NOT the norm. They are actually very peaceful and caring people. I am glad and honored to have met them and came back with a much better understanding of them and hopefully, they have of us.

A few things that burn my a** !

There are some things that should have NEVER been allowed on TV... Lawyers and pharmaceutical commercials. Lawyers have changed the laws and verdicts in our country (for the worse), and pharmaceutical commercials have forced doctors to order unnecessary meds which raised insurance costs. The other thing that drive me nuts is the amount of advertisement commercials between a single show segments. I once counted 10 commercials which lasted nearly 10 minutes before the show continued. REALLY? When you pay more than $90 a month for 250+ channels, you should not have to be forced to watch junk. When I watch TV, I want to watch a show, not continuous advertisements!

2014 Summer travels and happenings

I know, I have been slacking on our posts. No excuses. I just get caught up in different things and forget. Well anyway, here's what happened since the last one. In mid-June, Nancy, Scooter our dog and I left pulling the 5th wheel for the Great Lakes area. Eventho I lay-out a route, it's got to be flexible, and it was. We tend to like the secondary roads more than freeways unless we want to get to somewhere fast. This is the condensed version of our stops. We stopped in Dodge City Kansas and then on the Springfield Illinois and visited the Lincoln Museum and his home. A day well spent.

I got a chance to visit with the family. Then off to Starved Rock State park. Don't know where they got that name. Hiking was fabulous. Waterfalls, canyons and, of course, A LOT of trees and green stuff. Not like Arizona.

Then on to near Chicago to visit with our youngest son and his family, some dear friends and the couple who bought my 36 Ford street rod last March.

Continuing North to Milwaukee and the Harley-Davidson Museum. WOW! What a place! Motorcycles, history, interactive exhibits, restaurant and shopping abundant.

Nancy told me she wanted to look for these quilt barns. I thought it was a quilt with barns on it, but it was barns with quilts on them. OKAY!?

Following the west side of Lake Michigan shoreline, we arrived at the Mackinac Bridge. Boy, is it big! We took a ferry over to the island and spent the day touring around. No motor vehicles allowed on the island except emergency vehicles. Did you ever see UPS deliver by horse?

The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron that we saw on this trip) have huge shipping lanes between cities and Canada. And for decades have depended on lighthouses to guide their way. Now GPS takes that job, so the lighthouses are sold to organizations to preserve or they decay away. We took several tours and learned a lot about what a "Keeper" life was like.

Now heading southwest toward home, we stopped in Pipestone Minnesota where, for centuries, Native Americans have travelled to mine for a certain rock to hand carve "Peace Pipes" (as we have called them). Had to buy one. 5400 miles and 4 1/2 weeks. Great trip, good to be home.

The passing of one great guy

On May 19th, Bev (my mother-n-law) received a call no mother should get. Her son, John Huelsman, passed away after complication from surgery. This was also my wife's older brother.

John was a real outdoors guy who loved to fish, boat and camp, usually with his family. He loved his family. John had just retired a couple years before and his wife just in December of 2013. They had bought a big 5th wheel and truck to start traveling around the US. One of their first long trips was to come West and meet up with us. We never got that far. Two years ago, Nancy and I traveled back to Tennessee and met with them for a week. They were still getting use to pulling the big 5th wheel and Debbie (his wife) had not retired yet. John was get anxious to travel since he was already retired. John will be deeply missed by his family in Ohio and here is Arizona.

Tony's project

It was a VERY long and stressful three months when Tony was hospitalized for a very severe MRSA infection last year. He has come a long way and still more to do until he is 100%, but he trying. I thought to inspire him to get up and move more, was to have a project he would love and wanted ALOT. So I bought him a 1969 Mustang Coupe, that ran, but still needed some help. One he could put his ideas and personality into. Of course, it going to be his Dallas Cowboy Mustang and he has already named it "SALLY". Get it? Mustang Sally? Oh well.

I guess I am the supervisor but he does it how he wants it to look. I just show him how to do it. We started from the bottom and are working up from the chassis...brakes, suspension, frame, then bodywork and finally interior. But, as most of us on our first full restoration or custom build, we get a little impatient and want to rush ... as does Tony. It's normal.

Tony does catch-on quickly. Yeah, I am the one with the belly and gravity fed chin on the left ... after welding. Tony is the handsome one sitting. We'll keep you posted on the progress in between trips. Take care and stay safe. God Bless you all.